ABILENE, Texas -  The McMurry Univerity football team will host East Texas Baptist University in what will be its home finale on Saturday (Nov. 3) at Wilford Moore Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 1 p.m. and the nine seniors on the War Hawks' squad will be honored in pre-game ceremonies.
 
The Tigers (5-3, 5-2 ASC) currently sits tied for third in the American Southwest Conference. McMurry (2-5, 2-4 ASC) are in seventh.
 
NOTES:
McM RADIO:  KSLI 1280 AM in Abilene (12:40 p.m. pre-game) - The "Voice of the War Hawks" - David Bacon - will call the play-by-play and Jason Feltz will serve as color commentator.
LIVE AUDIO STREAM:  http://1280ksli.com/listen-live
LIVE STATS: (host school):  https://portal.stretchinternet.com/mcmurry/
LIVE VIDEO (host school):  https://portal.stretchinternet.com/mcmurry/
 
THE SERIES:  This is the 17th meeting between these teams. ETBU leads the series, 12-4.
 
GAME-BY-GAME:
Year       W/L        McM      Opp.
1948      W           35          0
2000      L             14          28
2001      L             26          33
2002      L             21          31
2003      L             17          38
2004      L             24          27
2005      L             10          36
2006      L             24          41
2007      L             12          19          (OT)
2008      L             7            31
2009      W           45          21
2010      L             21          23
2011      W           63          31
2015      W           49          22
2016      L             31          67          ETBU #17
2017      L             21          66
 
WHEN LAST THEY MET:  The McMurry University football team hung with the high-octane East Texas Baptist University team into the third quarter, before running out of steam in a 66-21 loss at Ornelas Stadium. The War Hawks had their best opportunity to turn the tide, slip away in the third quarter. After McM's third touchdown of the day cut the deficit to 31-21, a blocked punt by MCM'S Reagan Miller was recovered and returned to the ETBU nine. With 8:15 left in the third period, McM was able to drive the ball all the way to the Tigers' one-yard line. But the drive stalled to thwart a golden opportunity for the visitors.
 
And things seemed to head south for the War Hawks from that point. After McMurry's deep incursion into Tigers' territory, ETBU turned right around and embarked on a four-play, 89-yard drive to extend its lead. It would be the beginning of a second half avalanche, as East Texas Baptist reeled off 35-unanswered points.
 
The McM defense – which produced four takeaways and the blocked punt – looked to show the effects late of the break-neck pace set by the ETBU offense, which snapped 93 plays in 24:34 minutes of possession time (that equates to one play every 15.8 seconds on offense).
 
Linebacker Josh Smith had a game-high 12 tackles. On offense, quarterback Kevin Hurley Jr. completed 15-of-28 passes for 120 yards and two touchdowns.
 
ETBU 2018 AT-A-GLANCE: All three of the ETBU Tigers' losses in 2018 have come at the hands of teams which were - or are now - appearing in the NCAA Division III national poll. The Tigers fell to: UW-Platteville (59-44) which was ranked #16; Hardin-Simmons (59-27) which was ranked #7, and: Texas Lutheran (28-21) currently receiving votes.
 
MCM 2018 AT-A-GLANCE: McMurry will be looking to snap a two-game skid, coming off last week's 80-7 loss at #2-ranked Mary Hardin-Baylor. The War Hawks' wins have come over Belhaven University and Sul Ross State University.
 
SENIORS BEING HONORED PRE-GAME: McMurry football will honor its 9 seniors in a pre-game ceremony versus ETBU. The group includes: Darius Brooks, A.J. Garcia, Paul Humphrey, Allen Scott, Quinton Thomas, Kristopher Vasquez, Trevion Harris and Doyle Hughes. Eight of these - all except Harris - are four-year members of War Hawks Football.
 
ADD HARRIS: Trevion Harris - who ranks second on the McM team in both receptions (24) and receiving yards (384) - played his freshman season at ETBU.
 
AMONG THE ASC LEADERS:            
*Kevin Hurley ranks 3rd in the ASC in Passing Yards per game, averaging 230.6 yards through the air per outing. He is also #4 in Total Offense at 234.0 y.p.g.
 
*As a team, McM is #2 in Passing Offense (274.2).
 
*Spencer Knox is #2 in the ASC in Kickoff Returns, at 22.5 yards per return in his 18 attempts.
 
*McM wide receiver Eriel Dorsey leads the ASC at 109.1 Receiving Yards per game and in Receptions per game (6.6). He is also #1 in the ASC for All-Purpose Yards at 139.6 y.p.g.
 
*Sophomore linebacker Josh Smith ranks #1 in the ASC for Total Tackles, at 10.6 per game...including the most solo tackles (47) of among the ASC's tackle leaders.
 
*McM freshman Darreion McLean ranks No. 5 in the ASC with 5.0 sacks, thus far, in 2018.
 
*McM is the second-least penalized team in the ASC, averaging 48.5 yards in penalties per game...and also #4 in drawing Opponent Penalty Yards (69.0 y.p.g.).
 
HURLEY CLIMBING THE CHARTS:  QB Kevin Hurley is ranked #9 on McMurry's career Passing Yards list with 3,291 yards. Next up at #7 Lonnie Hobbs (3,296/1972-74) and #6 Clyde McKenzie (3,515/1982-84). Hurley also ranks #12 in career Total Offense with 3,183 yards.
 
COMING UP: McMurry will close out 2018 with a "road" game on the north side of town versus Hardin-Simmons University on Saturday (Nov. 10).